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The CEP blog aims to offer a range of perspectives, experiences, and opinions related to effective philanthropic practice. We welcome submissions that address crucial issues facing individual and institutional donors and are not self-promotional in nature. The views expressed in these posts are not necessarily CEP’s own.
I started my career in the nonprofit field nearly 20 years ago. I worked in the basement of our founder’s house doing everything from leading programs, writing curriculum, hiring staff, applying for grants, and collecting and analyzing data. I had trays and trays of...
What does it take to form strong relationships with grantees? What does it take to be responsive, fair, approachable when problems arise, and clear and consistent in communications – the core aspects of any effective funder-grantee relationship? These are questions...
I recently wrote a post for the CEP blog about the power of the Forum of Regional Associations of Grantmakers — the Forum Network — to advance philanthropy across the field. That power of the Forum Network, the largest network serving philanthropy in America, was on...
Nonprofit organizations — and foundations — talk a lot about accountability. And one of the best ways to be accountable is to demonstrate impact. While you or I would be hard pressed to think of a nonprofit organization that does not want to demonstrate impact, the...
Perhaps your reaction after reading the latest CEP report, Assessing to Achieve High Performance: What Nonprofits are Doing and How Foundations Can Help, was similar to mine — skepticism. Perhaps you read “almost all nonprofits report collecting performance assessment...
The issue of nonprofit performance assessment seems to cause a lot of anxiety among nonprofits and funders. On one hand, there is agreement that assessment is necessary to achieving high performance — a nonprofit cannot improve its work if it’s not assessing how it’s...
How can we as funders do a better job of hearing from the people we seek to help? How can listening to our beneficiaries help us be more effective funders? We are looking forward to engaging CEP conference participants in answering these questions during our breakout...
The following profile is an excerpt from CEP’s recent research report, Hearing from Those We Seek to Help: Nonprofit Practices and Perspectives in Beneficiary Feedback. Crittenton Children’s Center in Kansas City, MO was one of three randomly selected nonprofit...
Expanding opportunity is the defining challenge of our time. In the Bay Area, far too many of our families are being left behind, struggling to make ends meet, spending two-thirds of their income on housing and transportation alone. As a region, we are experiencing...
All foundations confront exits. Whether due to shifting strategic priorities, limited-time enterprises, or other organizational changes, the decision to leave a field challenges foundation leaders, staff, routines, relationships and results. Writing on the subject is...
The following profile is an excerpt from CEP’s recent research report, Hearing from Those We Seek to Help: Nonprofit Practices and Perspectives in Beneficiary Feedback. Lifetrack in St. Paul, MN was one of three randomly selected nonprofit organizations...
Like anyone who spends a lot of time on the conference circuit, I’ve sat through a lot of dud sessions and conferences, as well as some great ones. I’ve also been involved in planning eight CEP conferences, the first back in 2002 in Boston, with fewer than 100...
The giving sector deserves credit for many things, but efficiency is not always one of them. For as long as there have been foundations investing in worthy causes, there have also been critics rightfully pointing out the duplicative, even wasteful ways with which the...
“There are many things of which a wise man might wish to be ignorant,” wrote Ralph Waldo Emerson. What’s behind the research you consume is not one of those things. It seems every other day there is a new article or blog delivering solutions or guidelines for what to...
If we care about impact – and I think that those of us working in philanthropy and the nonprofit sector do (why else would we be doing what we do?) – then we need to know what’s working and what’s not. It’s not always easy but it’s absolutely essential, as an...
Loyal readers, you can now receive every new CEP blog post directly in your inbox. We’re excited to unveil a new email subscription service to the CEP blog so you can always stay current with the latest news, ideas, and discussions from CEP staff and guest bloggers....
Since our inception, CEP has helped foundations pursue effectiveness through our assessment tools, data-driven research on best practices, and our tailored programming for foundation leaders. Along the way, our foundation clients have often asked us to provide more...
Foundations interested in helping nonprofit grantees build capacity can choose from many potential routes to accomplish those goals. From direct technical assistance to grant-funded consultant support, many funders grapple with the best approach to providing...
Nonprofit leaders have a sober assessment of foundations’ understanding of those they seek to help. CEP’s latest research shows that only 38 percent of nonprofit leaders believe that most or all of their foundation funders have a deep understanding of their intended...
In this new series, we’ll be sharing case studies of foundations that exemplify the ways in which funders can provide their grantees with support that goes beyond just the check. In 2008, CEP published a research report, More than Money: Making a Difference with...